RIVERDALE, ND (KFGO-AM) North Dakota Game & Fish is keeping a watch on the James River, looking for any sign that silver carp have established there. The leaping fish was first detected in the river in 2011, coming in from South Dakota during record summer flooding.
The department's invasive species coordinator, Fred Ryckman, says silver carp caught so far all appear to be 5 years old but there's no evidence silver carp are reproducing spawning in North Dakota waters, the first year mature fish could have . He says a search this fall did not find any younger carp. Ryckman says that's "somewhat comforting but with a caveat, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack."
Ryckman says sampling, completed last monthwas small and while the Game & Fish Department doesn't plan any additional searches this year, if it receives credible reports or confirmations from anywhere of silver carp on the James River in North Dakota, fisheries will check it out.